System and method for tag management and theft detection

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing a tag. The methods comprise: placing the tag in a first operational mode in which an internal component (“IC”) necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader (“TR”) are intentionally disabled; storing in the tag's data store a schedule specifying a scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with TR; selectively enabling IC at the scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with TR; performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when a predetermined condition has been detected; and causing the tag to autonomously perform an alerting function when the predetermined condition has been detected. The alerting function comprises (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with TR at an unscheduled time, and/or (b) activating an alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for managing a tag, comprising:
 placing the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 selectively enabling the at least one internal component of the tag at a scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected, the at least one predetermined condition comprising a motion condition; 
 causing the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 transmitting at least one signal to the tag reader indicating when the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period of time after the at least one predetermined condition was detected. 
 
     
     
       2. A method for managing a tag, comprising:
 placing the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 storing in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enabling the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 causing the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag; 
 wherein the at least one predetermined condition is a power management failure involving a failure to satisfy at least one measure of power management; and 
 wherein the measure of power management comprises a rate of charge delivered to an energy storage device in the tag, a measure of the amount of charge in the energy storage device, a measure of effectiveness of a power harvesting operation, or a power management index value. 
 
     
     
       3. A method for managing a tag, comprising:
 placing the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 storing in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enabling the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 causing the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 selectively controlling the alert by delaying the enabling of the hardware alerting component to a preset time period which has been established for human perceptible alerting; 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag. 
 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the motion condition is detected at the tag using information received from a motion sensor included in the tag. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising enabling the at least one internal component which is necessary to facilitate communications with the tag reader at an unscheduled time immediately upon detecting the motion condition. 
     
     
       6. A method for managing a tag, comprising:
 placing the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 storing in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enabling the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected, where the predetermined condition is a motion condition detected at the tag using information received from a motion sensor included in the tag; 
 enabling the at least one internal component which is necessary to facilitate communications with the tag reader at an unscheduled time immediately upon detecting the motion condition; and 
 causing the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 transmitting at least one signal to the tag reader indicating when the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period time after motion was detected; 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag. 
 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising selectively deactivating or powering down the at least one internal component to disable communications with the tag reader after the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising including in at least one transmitted communication to the tag reader motion indicator data to indicate that motion of the tag has been detected. 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 4 , further comprising:
 monitoring received signals from the tag reader at least during a time period while said motion is detected; and 
 activating the at least one alert immediately upon determining that communication from the tag reader has been interrupted while communications with the tag reader are enabled. 
 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising transmitting at least one signal to the tag reader indicating a theft alert if communication with the tag reader is restored at any time subsequent to being interrupted. 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising disabling the at least one internal component necessary for tag communications with the tag reader until a predetermined time slot or condition occurs. 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising disabling the at least one necessary internal components without powering down selected ones of a plurality of internal components. 
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the select ones of the plurality of internal components comprise a timer and a motion sensor. 
     
     
       14. A system, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for managing a tag, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
 place the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 selectively enable the at least one internal component of the tag at a scheduled time to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 perform monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 cause the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 cause transmission of at least one signal to the tag reader indicating when the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period of time after the at least one predetermined condition was detected. 
 
 
     
     
       15. A system, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for managing a tag, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
 place the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 store in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enable the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled times to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 perform monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 cause the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag; 
 wherein the at least one predetermined condition is a power management failure involving a failure to satisfy at least one measure of power management; and 
 wherein the measure of power management comprises a rate of charge delivered to an energy storage device in the tag, a measure of the amount of charge in the energy storage device, a measure of effectiveness of a power harvesting operation, or a power management index value. 
 
     
     
       16. A system, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for managing a tag, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
 place the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 store in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enable the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled times to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 perform monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 cause the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag; and 
 wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to selectively control the alert by delaying the enabling of the hardware alerting component to a preset time period which has been established for human perceptible alerting. 
 
     
     
       17. The system according to  claim 14 , wherein the motion condition is detected at the tag using information received from a motion sensor included in the tag. 
     
     
       18. The system according to  claim 14 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to enable the at least one internal component which is necessary to facilitate communications with the tag reader at an unscheduled time immediately upon detecting the motion condition. 
     
     
       19. A system, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for managing a tag, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
 place the tag in a first operational mode in which at least one internal component necessary to facilitate communication between the tag and a tag reader is disabled; 
 store in a data store of the tag a schedule specifying at least one scheduled time during which the tag is permitted to communicate with a tag reader; 
 selectively enable the at least one internal component of the tag at the at least one scheduled times to permit the tag to communicate with the tag reader; 
 perform monitoring operations at the tag to determine when at least one predetermined condition has been detected; and 
 cause the tag to autonomously perform at least one alerting function when the at least one predetermined condition has been detected; 
 
 wherein the alerting function comprises at least one of: (a) enabling a receiver of the tag to communicate with the tag reader at an unscheduled time; and (b) activating at least one alert by enabling a hardware alerting component provided on the tag; 
 wherein the predetermined condition is a motion condition detected at the tag using information received from a motion sensor included in the tag; 
 wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to enable the at least one internal component which is necessary to facilitate communications with the tag reader at an unscheduled time immediately upon detecting the motion condition; and 
 wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to transmit at least one signal to the tag reader indicating when the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period time after motion was detected. 
 
     
     
       20. The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to selectively deactivate or power down the at least one internal component to disable communications with the tag reader after the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       21. The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to include in at least one transmitted communication to the tag reader motion indicator data to indicate that motion of the tag has been detected. 
     
     
       22. The system according to  claim 17 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to:
 monitor received signals from the tag reader at least during a time period while said motion is detected; and 
 activate the at least one alert immediately upon determining that communication from the tag reader has been interrupted while communications with the tag reader are enabled. 
 
     
     
       23. The system according to  claim 22 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to transmit at least one signal to the tag reader indicating a theft alert if communication with the tag reader is restored at any time subsequent to being interrupted. 
     
     
       24. The system according to  claim 14 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to disable the at least one internal component necessary for tag communications with the tag reader until a predetermined time slot or condition occurs. 
     
     
       25. The system according to  claim 24 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to disable the at least one necessary internal components without powering down selected ones of a plurality of internal components. 
     
     
       26. The method according to  claim 25 , wherein the select ones of the plurality of internal components comprise a timer and a motion sensor. 
     
     
       27. A method for managing a tag, comprising:
 performing monitoring operations at the tag to determine when a motion condition has been detected; and 
 transmitting at least one signal from the tag to a tag reader indicating when the tag has been stationary for a predetermined period of time after the motion condition was detected.